The seizure was led by Juhaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Saif al Utaibi, who belonged to a powerful family of Najd. He declared his brother-in-law Muhammad bin abd Allah al-Qahtani to be the Mahdi, or redeemer of Islam, whose coming at endtimes is foretold inmany ahaadith of Muhammad. Although one of the essential signs to know the Mahdi isthat he is a descendant of Muhammad, Muhammad bin abd Allah al-Qahtani was not adescendant of the Prophet of Islam, since he belongs to Al-Qahtani tribe. However, thefanatics overlooked this by relying on the fact that Al-Qahtani's name and his father'sname are identical to the Prophet's name and father, and they used one of the Prophet'ssayings "His and his father's names were the same as Muhammad's and his father's, andhe had come to Mecca from the north" to justify their opinion. Furthermore, the date of the attack, November 20, 1979, was the first day of the year 1400 according to theIslamic calendar, which according to another hadith, was the day that the Mahdi wouldreveal himself.Juhaiman Saif al Otaibi was from "one of the foremost families of Najd. His grandfather had ridden with Abd al Aziz in the early decades of the century." He was a preacher, aformer corporal in the Saudi National Guard, and former student of revered conservativeSheikh Abdel Aziz al Baaz, who went on to become the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia.Juhaiman had turned against al Baz, "and began advocating a return to the original waysof Islam, among other things; a repudiation of the West; an end of education of women;abolition of television and expulsion of non-Muslims." He proclaimed that "the ruling AlSaud dynasty had lost its legitimacy, because it was corrupt, ostentatious and haddestroyed Saudi culture by an aggressive policy of Westernization."

Juhaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Saif al Utaibi(WAHABI), who belonged to a powerful family of Najd & claimed to be AL-MAHDI.Juhaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Saif al Utaibi (Wahabi, Najd) sieged the Holy Shrine of KABA (GrandMosque, Mecca) along with his over 500 armed

Wahabi Terrorists on November 20, 1979...

They are responsible of KillingHundreds of Hujjaj (Pilgrims) whowere performing Hajj at the time...Otaibi and Qahtani had met while being imprisoned together for sedition, when Otaibiclaimed to have a vision sent by God telling him that Qahtani was the Mahdi. Their declared goal was to institute a theocracy in preparation for the imminent apocalypse.Many of their followers were drawn from theology students at the Islamic University inMedina, which was known as a center of the Muslim Brotherhood. Other followers camefrom Yemen, Kuwait, and Egypt and also included some Muslim African-Americans.The followers preached their radical message in different mosques in Saudi Arabiawithout being arrested. The government was reluctant to confront religious extremists.Members of the ulema cross-examined Otaibi and Qahtani for heresy, but they weresubsequently released as being traditionalists harkening back to the Ikhwan, like Otaibi'sgrandfather, and not a threat.Because of donations from wealthy followers, the group was well-armed andtrained. Some members, like Otaibi, were members of the National Guard. Some National Guard troops sympathetic to the insurgents infiltrated weapons, ammunition, gasmasks, and provisions into the mosque compound over a period of weeks before the newyear. Automatic weapons were stolen from National Guard armories, and the supplieswere hidden in the hundreds of tiny underground rooms under the mosque that were usedas hermitages.

Seizure

In the early morning of November 20, 1979, the imam of the Grand Mosque, SheikhMohammed al-Subayil, was preparing to lead the prayers for the fifty thousandworshipers who had gathered for the first prayer of the Islamic year. He was interrupted by insurgents who procured weapons from under their robes, chained the gates shut andkilled two policemen who were armed with only wooden clubs for disciplining unruly pilgrims. The number of insurgents has been given as "at least 500" and "four to fivehundred", which included several women and children who had joined Otaibi'smovement.At the time, the Grand Mosque was being renovated by the Saudi Binladin Group in whatwas the most prestigious construction contract in the Islamic world. An employee of theorganization was able to report the seizure to corporate headquarters before the insurgentscut the telephone lines. A representative of the Binladin Group was thus the first to notifyKing Khalid.The insurgents released most of the hostages and locked the remainder in the sanctuary.They took defensive positions in the upper levels of the mosque, and sniper positions inthe minarets, from which they commanded the grounds. No one outside the mosque knew

how many hostages remained, how many militants were in the mosque and what sort of preparations they had made.

Surviving Wahabi Insurgents Arrested By Pakistan Army Commandos...Osama Bin Laden Half Brother Mahrous bin Laden was among the WahabiTerrorists who Sieged & took the control of Masjid Al Haram for 2weeks...Later All the Insurgents were beheaded by except Mahrous bin Laden ...due to his relation ship with the Royal Family... Mahrous bin Laden still possess key position in Saudi Regime today.

Siege

Soon after the seizure, about a hundred security officers of the Interior Ministryattempted to retake the mosque, and were decisively turned back with heavy casualties.The survivors were quickly joined by units of the Saudi Army and National Guard.By the evening, the entire city of Mecca had been evacuated. Prince Sultan, then-Minister of Defense, rushed to the city to set up a field command. Sultan appointed his nephewTurki bin Faisal Al Saud, head of the Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah, to take over the forwardcommand post several hundred meters from the mosque, where Turki would remain for the next several weeks. However, the first order of business was to seek the approval of the ulema, which was led by Abdul Aziz bin Baz. Islam forbids any violence within theGrand Mosque, to the extent that plants cannot be uprooted without explicit religioussanction. Ibn Baaz found himself in a delicate situation, especially as he had previouslytaught Otaibi in Medina. Regardless, the ulema issued a fatwa allowing deadly force to beused in retaking the mosque.With religious approval granted, Prince Sultan ordered frontal assaults on three of themain gates, preceded by an artillery barrage. The assaulting force was repulsed, and never even got close to breaking through the insurgents' defenses, while snipers continued to pick off members of the security forces whenever they showed themselves. The mosque's public address system was used to broadcast the insurgents' message throughout thestreets of Mecca. Confusion reigned at the field command, where several senior princes,the heads of the armed forces and military attachés from France and Pakistan gavecontradictory advice. Pakistani troops were rushed to Makkah on Saudi Government'srequest and Pakistani SSG commandos lead a successful operation afterwards. It is saidthat the group was commanded by Pervez Musharraf, then the commanding officer of theGroup of Pakistani commandos.